Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes have been among the biggest stories in college football since Sanders took over as head coach nearly two years ago.
A wild first season that ended in a 4-8 finish in the coach’s first season has blossomed into a 6-2 start to year two.
Colorado is eligible for a bowl game for the first time in a full season since 2017, and Saturday’s 34-23 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats kept the school in the hunt in both the Big 12 and College Football Playoff races.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, one of Sanders’ most prominent critics over the past two years, gave the coach credit for the job he’s done this season.
“I don’t know if I’ve really heard much from him since he started going after and singling out reporters, doing stuff like that, I think he has handled himself the way he, the Deion Sanders I’ve always known and admired. I think he got a little bit too defensive of certain things, and it’s not a good exercise. Just coach your football team, embrace them, make them feel special, because they’re playing for you. And that’s what we’re seeing,” Finebaum said Sunday on The Matt Barrie Show via On3.
To his credit, Sanders admitted to changing earlier this week, telling The Athletic ‘We’re not who we used to be.”
While that quote applies to Sanders himself, it also is true of the Buffaloes, who were 1-11 in 2022, the last season before Sanders took over.
Colorado now enters a bye week and will return to action November 9 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
